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Chapter 12: Who Decided That Pure White Things Taste Sweet?
On the table sat a delicious-looking mountain of fries. For four people sharing, it wasn't that expensive. It wasn't good to mention people's circumstances too much, but it was nice that Komari could join without feeling awkward.
With sparkling eyes, she bit into the salty, crunchy fries and the rich, pure white cheese sauce. Her brain was probably secreting all sorts of substances. She was completely absorbed, and the sight of her nibbling like a rodent was so adorable it even moved me.
Yakishio and I watched with warm eyes as she crunched through one fry after another. Any moment now, some snarky comment would probably fly.
"…You two… and Komari-chan too… Want some? Should we share among four?"
The moment she said it, her stomach let out a loud growl, proving that Yanami-san's bravado was just that.
"Yeah, you should eat that cream-loaded fluffy soufflé pancake, Yanami-san."
"That's right. You want it, don't you, Yanami-chan? What's wrong? Are you on a diet?"
"Lemon-chan, soufflé pancakes are… fluffy and have almost no density, so it's fine. They're like mist, so it's okay… Yeah, it's okay."
That was absolutely impossible. If you could become an immortal by inhaling mist, every person in the country would already be a sage. Every time a pancake video appeared on short-form videos, all the young women in this country would grow long beards and the nation would collapse.
However, spouting unrealistic theories was nothing new for her.
Still, suggesting they divide such a delicious-looking dessert into four in front of them… yeah, that was definitely—
…Loan: 1,104 yen
"…Yanami-san."
"Sorry, I know it's bad… Weird, why isn't it enough?"
In the cozy, familiar café we often visited, the same déjà vu conversation was unfolding again.
I didn't have any new light novel purchases planned, and with pocket money from my parents plus an advance New Year's gift from a distant relative, my wallet wasn't hurting. It wasn't hurting, but everything comes in threes. It was probably fine to give this lovable sea otter a word or two of complaint. As her keeper.
"Yanami-chan, that's not good. Honestly."
"Yeah… Honestly, that's not good… Yanami!"
"Don't scold me so normally… I'm about to get depressed."
Perhaps the scolding from Yakishio and Komari hit deeper. Before even three complaints could land, Yanami-san pushed the plate to the center.
"Hey, is it okay if we share?… Yukkun."
"…Well, that's… but the two of them…"
I looked at Yakishio. The salty cheese had made her mouth crave sweetness. Even though she had complained, sharing was probably exactly what she wanted. Moreover, the soufflé pancake came with a huge pile of cream. There was no way her finger wouldn't move toward it.
But the one who would be troubled was still—
"…! …A, um…"
The hand moving under the table was surely clutching her wallet.
Even if the price of the shared fries was fine, adding the cost of dividing the pancake into four was unexpected. She was probably calculating what to cut back on. Her thoughts were leaking out clearly.
"…Yanami-san, can I buy that pancake for you?"
"Eh… Hya, money… What, what what??"
She was panicking too much. Did she think I was plotting something? Or did she see me as some evil magistrate?
"…I also felt like eating it. But I definitely can't finish one by myself."
I took one of the small plates on the table and put only two small bites' worth of the pancake on it.
I passed the rest to the three of them. This much was really enough for me right now.
"Yanami-san, I… kind of owe you, so here, you three eat."
"Yukkun."
"Yuzuki-kun."
Their gazes suddenly felt strangely embarrassing.
I hadn't meant to show off, but I had done something rather pretentious. It was embarrassing — stop staring and grinning like that.
"You're kind, Yukkun. You really are a boy after all~♡"
"I might have to reevaluate you a bit… Okay, I won't hold back then. I'll divide it into three~♡"
"…"
Without knowing — or perhaps it was better they didn't know — how I felt, Yanami-san cheerfully divided the remaining cake into three. One portion went in front of her, one in front of Yakishio, and one in front of Komari.
"…! …A, hawaa… Soufflé, this is it!"
Sweet. Just looking at the fluffy mass made it seem sweet. The fork stabbed in. It didn't feel like mist, but it was light with lots of air and yet contained an unbelievable amount of sugar and fat matching that texture.
Komari's face sparkled. The moment she bit into it, her cheeks looked like they were about to literally fall off from how happy she was. It was strange. It looked far more delicious than when Yanami-san or Yakishio ate.
"…"
Even two bites might have been too much. The fries had been quite filling.
"Komari, do you want the rest?"
"————!!"
Her nodding speed seemed to surpass light for an instant. No, that couldn't be, but she really was eating with pure joy.
"Yukkun, thank you… You do have some good points."
She finally seemed to understand my intention and nudged me with her elbow.
"…Just so you know, this is only this once."
"I know, a woman never says the same thing four times."
I wished she wouldn't even say it two or three times. But still, it was good that Komari could enjoy the sweets without holding back.
However, it really was sweet. Just one spoonful of the scooped cream was quite sweet.
"This cream is delicious. The pancake is good too, but it's surprising how sweet pure white things can be… I've been eating a lot of bitter stuff lately, so my tongue was shocked."
"Gehun, geho goho!!"
"Ch-cho, Yukkun, what's wrong!?"
"…————!"
I coughed out the choked breath onto my lap. It didn't hit Yakishio or Komari sitting across from me. Having at least maintained minimum etiquette, I first breathed a sigh of relief and drank water to soothe my throat.
"…A, right… Bitter… Aah, I get that. When it's white, you tend to think sticky and bitter~ The other day when stew came out for dinner, I felt something was off and asked if it was really stew~ Mom made a weird face, so it was hard to cover it up."
"..."
"Eh, Yukkun, what's wrong? Was it so funny your stomach hurt?"
"Why are you face-down? …Hey, doing weird things for no reason is seriously creepy, Yukkun."
"..."
It was too late. While still looking down, I flicked a message to the two of them with my fingertip. The vibration notification made both of them check their phones immediately. How grateful I was for notification functions — I had never felt it so strongly. It wasn't just there for recovering stamina in social games.
"…Ah, speaking of white, I remembered this sweet a girl in class went to eat the other day~"
"When you say white… Um, um… Ah, I heard there are two hundred shades of white the other day~"
It was too late, but the two of them corrected course. They expanded the conversation into bland, harmless topics as if the slip-up had never happened.
With this, somehow honor was preserved and the secret… no, actually, that was—
"…Kku… A, mmu"
"————"
Komari was completely absorbed in the pancake.
Even if I pointed it out strangely, there was a chance she hadn't heard it at all.
"…Yuzuki, what are you looking at?… I can't give it back, so no."
"Ah, no… It's nothing. I was just thinking you finished it all."
"Wh-what's wrong with that!"
"Nothing's wrong. Thanks for eating my share too… Ah, there are still some fries left. Want them?"
"N-no… I don't feel like eating cheese flavor anymore."
"I see, yeah, that makes sense."
"…Let's go home soon… It was delicious, thank you for the meal."
"Eh, aah… Then shall we settle the bill together?"
"Sure~"
"Leave it to me, I'll eat all the leftovers… I already ate them!"
Yanami-san stuffed her cheeks messily while trying to look cool. Yeah, Komari eating it still looked way more delicious.
"…For now, I'll pay once and you guys can give me the small amounts later."
Since I had the biggest share, I took the bill and headed to the register first.
Once I was at a distance, looking back from afar, everything seemed normal.
"...Haa."
I finally let out a sigh of relief. The clerk in front of me looked slightly apologetic. No, that wasn't it — I corrected myself.
Still, that slip-up had chilled me to the bone.
There was no guarantee something similar wouldn't happen again. I needed the two of them to be more careful. At least, Komari didn't seem to have noticed.
Seemed to, at least.
"…N-no… I don't want any… I lost my appetite for cheese flavor."
"?"
What was that? It bothered me. I had taken it as her stomach feeling heavy after eating the pancake and let it slide.
But what if—
"Yukkun, what are you doing? …We're leaving~"
"…Ah, yeah… I'm coming."
We left the café. Before I could focus on the strange feeling, the noisy conversation between the two girls started again, and there was no longer any chance to ask.
Walking ahead were Yanami-san, Yakishio, and Komari.
No, especially Komari.
"Komari-chan ate so much~… It's fine~, eat lots and exercise lots, let's try the new Yakishio Method!"
"I-I won't!… The method isn't even established!"
"What what? Did Lemon-chan come up with another new training again??"
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
"…"
No way, that couldn't be. For now, that was what I should think.
Such prying was nothing but sexual harassment. Komari's reaction of being stunned at the two's slip-up — the possibility that she might know — was surely just my imagination running wild.
Because I was constantly worried about our relationship with the two of them being exposed, I was simply feeling anxious.
No matter what, Komari becoming like those two…
Yeah, that surely couldn't happen.